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The complementary relationship between social media and SEO

Steve Pailthorpe Sep 06,2018

Social media and SEO have evolved something of a symbiotic relationship that is well worth exploring for most businesses. Although the secrets of Google’s algorithm are so closely guarded that it’s unlikely we’ll ever know for sure how social media impacts on SEO rankings, it’s clear that it does have some influence. However, social media doesn’t necessarily boost SEO in the way that many people think, or assume, that it does.

Social media and SEO

Social media can have an influence on your SEO levels in a number of different ways, including:

Supporting brand promotion

Social media platforms today provide many more options for users than used to be the case. They have become creative tools via which it’s possible to generate content, videos, images etc that can be shared everywhere online. There’s no doubt that the more content that exists about a business online – and the higher the quality of that content – the more positive the impact on SEO. YouTube is a prime example – a social media platform that can be used for creating informative or promotional videos that have the potential to rank organically in the SERPs.

Linking potential

Shares on social media are a fantastic way to build your brand presence – but their impact is largely limited to the social platform itself. However, what has been discovered recently is that while the shares themselves may have limited impact, the links that can come from those shares have real potential to have an influence on the levels of SEO that a brand achieves. Content that is popular on social media attracts users and can help to generate multiple links that will then help to push up SEO performance. So, if you’re creating or sharing high quality content on social media that is attracting attention from other users you’re much more likely to get links from multiple websites.

Reaching and building an audience

Social media use has grown significantly over the past five years and represents a huge global audience for any brand. With more than 500 websites being set up online every minute it’s becoming increasingly tough to get found online – but that’s something that a strong social presence can help with. Social media also contributes to brand awareness, something that can be hugely influential in driving up click-through rates, which can also impact search engine rankings. The more established, known and trusted your brand becomes with consumers – including via social media – the more likely they are to click on your content and ads.

Generating branded searches

A social presence can help to drive searches that tell Google a site should rank higher for certain in-demand keyword phrases. For example, if a post on your social media drives people to go online and search for your brand name plus the key phrase ‘winter coats’ it can help you rank for similar keyword phrases.

The relationship between social media and SEO is not simple but it has the potential to be enormously beneficial. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with Iconic Digital today on 020 7100 0726.

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